Sunday 31st March to Wednesday 3rd April 2019

Posted: 04/04/2019 15:24

Sunday 31st March. A light to moderate wind varying between ENE and N provided a thermic day which saw a number of cross countries flown. Those getting off earliest fared best, as overconvection was a feature of the afternoon and, while nobody landed out, some pilots had to abandon their declared tasks and tip toe home. The local Sut/Pocklingtion/Rufforth/Sut 100 km triangle proved to be a popular choice, with 4 pilots attempting the task and 3 successfully completing it. They were Toby Wilson in his Std Cirrus, Nora v G with John Carter in the DG1000 and Chris Booker in his LS1F. A birds eye view of York taken by John on the Pocklington/Rufforth leg of the task is shown below.

Toby, taking off first around midday, has the best of the weather and recorded the highest handicapped speed, while Kelly Teagle, taking off around 1300 hrs and last of those who flew this task, abandoned it after Pocklington due to the overcast but still managed to get home. Two other cross countries of the day saw Rob Bailey, another late starter in his ASG29, have to abandon his Sut/Hemsley/Pocklington/ Market Raisen/Tockwith/Sut task and return to Sutton, but completed 121 km, while Paul Whitehead in his Ventus completed his task of 129 km, Su3/Pocklington/Burn/Sutton. 5 of the above pilots had flight times of between 1:40 and 2:32, while Kelly's flight was one of 8 to have between 30 and 54 minutes, the latter being by Joan Wilson and Les Rayment in the DG1000. Brian Wise and Tony Drury looked after the 4 First Flighters of the day, with Tony giving his pupil just over an hour in K21 KLW off the last flight of the day.

Monday 1st April. A light to moderate N'y that veered into the ESE generated some scruffy Cumulus with a base around 3,500' asl under a higher overcast. These conditions did not tempt many pilots to leave the site and restricted flight durations, so that only 6 of the day's 16 ATs off runway 20 exceeded 30 minutes. The only pilot to venture far was Rob Bailey who flew his ASG29 around personal TP *SSE and then Castle Howard, SU4 and Sutton, a distance of just under 45 km. Rob described his 1:24 flight as low and slow, the low being low enough at times to appreciate the local daffodils. Duncan Pask, the only other private owner to fly, had 55 minutes in his LS10, with Phil Turner having 45 minutes solo in K21 JVZ, Bruce Grain and Richard Margetts 42 minutes in K21 KLW and Colin Troise 41 minutes solo in KLW. The day also saw a visit from a Piper 28 and of course its pilot.

Tuesday 2nd. Following overnight rain, a light to moderate NW'ly brought in some heavy showers of rain and hail which delayed the start of flying until the early afternoon. The start of the Tuesday evening flying led to operations continuing until around 2015 hrs by which time, 13 ATs had been flown off runway 24. The absence of any useable lift meant flight times did not exceed 30 minutes, including Jon May's two flights in his Ventus ct. The longest flights were both of 23 minutes by Rob Bottomly flying K21 KLW solo and by M Morgan and Mark Croston in K21 JVZ. The lack of flying highlights was compensated by a ground based one when Adam Sayer was presented with the CFI's award for 2018 by Paul Whitehead, as the following photo shows

Wednesday 3rd. Early morning rain and low cloud that shrouded the hill slowly cleared, the light and mainly SSW'ly wind strengthening to become light to moderate and backing into the E from around 1400 hrs. A lack of members no doubt put off by the early conditions meant only 2 flights were flown, both off runway 24 in the DG1000, which had earlier had a slow puncture to its main tyre sorted by Bruce Grain. Bruce then flew Paul Harvey, a First Flight pupil, finding some thermal lift as the skies cleared that allowed him to extend the flight to 40 minutes. He was then followed by George Rowden who took Tom Fox, a Mile High pupil, for a 41 minute flight, this including the below cloud transit of a line of hail showers that had developed just to the SW of the site.